


One Scoop of Vanilla

by Flammenkobold



Category: The Magnus Archives (Podcast)
Genre: Dogs, Fluff, Ice Cream, M/M, Mental Breakdown, Self-Indulgent, Some angst, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-23
Updated: 2018-02-23
Packaged: 2019-03-23 02:38:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,477
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13777902
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Flammenkobold/pseuds/Flammenkobold
Summary: Martin finally breaks, Elias is being creepy and Tim finally gets Martin out of the Institute for a day. Vanilla ice cream is used as a metaphor, there is a visit to the Battersea Dogs & Cats home and all in all Tim and Martin's day is only improving. Also Martin gets to pet a dog and eat ice cream (so does Tim).





	One Scoop of Vanilla

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Arazsya](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Arazsya/gifts).



> Thanks to Cherry for beta-ing! And thanks to Arazsya for always throwing the best ideas in my direction and introducint me to the page for the Battersea Dogs&Cats home.

Tim hears the crash coming from the room that contains all statements from 1888 to 1924. He almost doesn’t bother to check. Except Martin was supposed to sort some of the statements there, and there is a part of his brain that still pings with worry for his co-worker.

He carefully opens the door in time to see Martin kick at a fallen box in frustration, clutching a folder in one hand, while the rest of the old statement folders spill out around him. “You okay?” he asks and doesn’t miss Martin’s flinch.

“Fine,” Martin grits out, “just fine.” Tim raises an eyebrow at him, because Martin isn’t even trying to sound fine in any way. That in itself should be worrying enough.

“If you say so,” he says slowly. He waves vaguely at the fallen box with the scattered statements on the floor. “You need help with that?”

Martin gives a laugh that is entirely too bitter for him. “If you’re not too busy taking a nap.”

“You sure you’re fine?” Tim inquires again, not quite willing to back away or show how unsettling he finds Martin’s current mood. Despite everything Martin has always been the one that kept it together the best, who hardly let himself slip up. Perhaps things are finally spilling out like the folders from a worn box. Tim wouldn’t be surprised.

“Yes,” Martin says. It’s at that moment the pages tucked into the folder decide to slip out and scatter on top of the mess already on the floor. Martin stares at them in utter betrayal.

“You know what?” he says zeroing in on Tim. “No, no I’m not fine! Nothing is fine! Sure, John’s back, but he won’t even talk to us! After everything and he just- And Elias,” Martin takes a shuddering breath, “I don’t even know what’s going on there. Except we’re all doomed!” He lets out a high pitched giggle that could mirror as a sob and so Tim bites his tongue instead of saying ‘so you finally caught on to that? Congratulations!’.

“And now there are even more people trapped here and- and-,” Martin looks at the folder in his hands, finally throws it to the floor and gestures at Tim, “and you’re just bloody useless!” he finishes, his outburst seemingly over. Or he let out enough steam to bottle everything else up again.

“Okay?” Tim says. They both just look at each other for a moment. Martin’s face is still a blotchy red that’s slowly receding and guilt starts creeping into his features.

“I- I’m sorry, I didn’t mean that,” Martin says and Tim sees him tugging his anger down and away from the surface.

“Yes, you did.”

“Doesn’t mean I should’ve said that.”

Tim snorts. “Why not?”

“Cause it’s not nice!”

Tim almost laughs at that. “Who even cares?”

The anger in Martin’s face flashes up again. “I do!” Martin takes another shuddering breath. “I do,” he repeats quieter and there is a moment of resolve in his eyes that Tim knows too well from several spider lectures. “Someone has to be nice and it’s not like anyone else here tries to be. And what’s the- what’s the point of making everything even more miserable for us than it already is?”

“Martin-”

“And you’re not exactly helping.”

“Yeah, you’ve already said.”

“No, no I didn’t!” Martin’s voice goes higher again. “I get it, you’re tired and exhausted. I get not wanting to do anything useful, but do you have to be so, so...you about it too?”

“Hey now-”

“No, I don’t want to hear it,” Martin cuts him off again and then talks himself into it again. “I just- I needed you,” he admits and that actually does hit Tim. “I needed you around because no one else in this cursed place would get it. The worms and the monsters with too big hands and the- everything. But you just-” Martin runs a shaking hand through his hair.

“I get it, what do my feelings matter if you can just stew in yours,” he says bitterly and lets out another little crazed laugh. “You know what? Maybe you’re right. Who even cares.”

With his anger having run its course, Martin just looks defeated and lost. It’s not something Tim ever wants to see again. He sighs and steps closer to Martin, carefully putting a hand on his shoulder. Martin just keeps looking glumly at the pile of paper at his feet.

“I do,” Tim says and turns Martin gently to face him. “I do, okay.”

“Sure,” Martin says, voice dripping with acid.

“Look, I wouldn’t mind burning the entire place down, but if there is one thing left here I do care about, it’s you, okay?”

It’s not even hyperbole at this point, Tim thinks. He still couldn’t care less about Jonathan, and while he doesn’t want Melanie or Basira to come to harm, he knows them too little to be more than tangentially worried. Martin though, Martin’s the only thing left here that doesn’t seem rotten to the core. And he’ll be damned if he lets it drag him down too.

Martin finally looks at him and he just seems entirely exhausted. “Okay,” he says quietly.

“Let’s get you out of here for a bit.” Martin’s eyes wander back to the pile of old folders on the floor. “We can clean it up later, I think for now you need a break.”

Martin opens his mouth to speak, and then decides against it and just nods. Tim tugs him away from the mess, lest Martin gets it back into his head that he needs to clean it up after all.

“Maybe take the rest of the day off, too, do something nice.”

“Tim,” Martin says. “I can’t just-” but Tim’s had enough and cuts him off this time.

“I’m going to talk to Elias, okay? I’m even going to ask nicely if I have to. When was the last time you took a vacation day anyway?”

Martin’s silence tells him more than he needs to know. It’s early May and Martin hasn’t taken any of his days yet.

“I wouldn’t even know what to do,” Martin confesses when they are in the hallway to Elias office.

“We’ll figure something out,” Tim says. “Maybe get ice cream or something.”

“We?”

“Yeah, if you think I’m letting you out of my si- I’m letting you be alone, you’re mistaken.”

“Tim you don’t have to-”

“Yes, I do,” he insists and watches as Martin turns his head away, a little smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. It only serves to have Martin look at the door to Elias’ office, which makes the smile fall away entirely. Martin’s mouth goes thin and Tim notices how one of his hands has balled into a fist, knuckles white and slightly trembling.

“Just wait here a second,” he says and before Martin can respond, he has stepped between him and the door.

He knocks on Elias door and is greeted with: “Come in.” almost immediately.

“Hey, boss,” he says, poking his head through the door. Elias is sat at his desk, hunched over several papers, looking like the prime example of a busy bureaucrat. Except now that Tim knows, the facade looks less convincing.

“Tim,” Elias says glancing up at him. “What can I do for you?”

“Martin and I need to use one and a half day of our vacation days,” Tim says, because screw this, if they get out earlier today they might as well use another day to sleep in. “Please?” Martin certainly looked like he could need it. “If we’re still allowed to use them.”

Elias gives him a look over, like he is amused, like he is considering, and it sets Tim on edge. “Of course. You aren’t prisoners, you know?”

“Sure,” Tim says slowly.

Elias sighs. “Go on then, I have work to do. Just make sure to put in a bit more work when you are back. Maybe record a statement or two.”

Tim swallows and nods, turns to leave before he does or says something ill-advised. “I’ll do that.”

“Good,” Elias hums. “And Tim?”

“Yes?”

“Tell Rosie to have someone clean up that mess in the archives old section, will you?”

Tim freezes, goes still like those prey animals do on TV documentaries, that have spotted a predator. He tries his best to keep his voice even when he answers and succeeds only because he has years of practice. “Will do, boss.”

“Excellent.”

Tim quickly closes the door behind himself and walks over to Martin, grabbing him by the wrist to drag him along.

“Let’s go. We got the rest of the day off. And tomorrow too.”

Martin doesn’t put up a fight, despite the noises of protest he makes. “Tim- wait, Tim. Are you alright? You look like-”

“Don’t say it,” Tim grits out.

He only stops for a second to tell Rosie about the files and then makes a beeline for the exit and throws the door to the outside world open. To his own surprise he is hit with a ray of sunshine.

“Huh,” Martin mutters and squints against the sunlight, “I thought it was supposed to rain?”

Tim just shrugs and tugs Martin down the front stairs and down the street. He only lets go of his wrist when they are halfway down to the embankment. The river shimmers in the sun and it’s quite beautiful. Tim takes in the scenery and lets out a deep exhale he didn’t know he’d been holding. It’s like the world is dipped in colour again after having been covered with a grey veil for months.

“It’s pretty, isn’t it?” Martin says next to him, blinking owlishly, like he’s still getting used to not being in a dark, dank basement full of musty secrets.

“Yeah,” Tim says and steers Martin away further from the institute. “Come on.”

“Where are we going?”

“There’s an ice cream shop near Battersea park, I feel like we deserve some ice cream.” He remembers that this was supposed to be a nice day for Martin and turns to him, watching Martin closely. “If you want to? We can do something else.”

“Ice cream sounds nice,” Martin says. Which is neither a real yes, but also not exactly a no and Martin’s eyes seem to light up a bit at the thought of ice cream.

They make their way down Grosvenor Road mostly in quiet. The cars passing them don’t really allow for much conversation anyway. It’s when they pass the bridge that Martin gets more chatty, yelling over the noise of the cars at times.

He’s not talking about anything in particular, and Tim notices maybe for the first time how good Martin is at that. Talking without saying anything. Tim’s good at that too, or used to be, but he used it to draw people in, to make them interested. Martin on the other hand seems to deflect and divert attention from something else. So Tim tries to find something in the chatter that Martin really is interested in and tries to mask with the rest.

“Did you know there is an animal shelter in Battersea?” Martin says and then goes on a different tangent about all the other things Battersea apparently has. Gotcha, Tim thinks.

“You want to go there?”

“What the power plant?” Martin asks confused.

“No, the animal shelter.”

“I thought we were going for ice cream?” Martin yells over the sound of a passing lorry.

“It’s your day off, we can do both,” Tim reassures him and next to him Martin ducks his head, a smile spreading over his lips.

“Okay,” he says.

It shouldn’t surprise Tim that the lady at the Battersea Dogs and Cats Home reception knows Martin. But with everything that’s been going on lately it’s a nice surprise to see people be genuinely happy to see Martin.

The woman, her name tag reads ‘Amanda’, ushers them through, fussing over an increasingly flustered Martin.

“It’s been forever since you’ve been here, I was almost getting worried,” she says with a smile in her voice as she pats Martin’s arm.

“Just busy at work,” Martin evades and Tim snorts, that’s an understatement if he ever heard one. His little reaction leads Amanda to focus on him though, eyeing him up and down critically.

“And who would that handsome young man be?” she asks and Martin next to her flushes. It’s kind of cute, Tim thinks, and takes enough pity on Martin to introduce himself.

“Tim Stoker,” he says shaking her hand and summoning up a bright smile for her. “Nice to meet you Amanda.”

Amanda laughs. “Aren’t you charming?” Tim suspects that she’s so trained in using that tone for cute dogs that she doesn’t even realize she uses it on people too.

He winks at her. “I aim to be,” he says and Martin lets out an embarrassed, “Tim.”

“So what brings you here?” Amanda asks them, clapping her hands together.

“Like Martin said, work’s been a bit busy. I thought he could do with a bit of a break and pet a cute dog,” Tim says and his answer seems to delight her.

“Oh I know just the right ones for you two,” she says in a tone of voice that makes Tim think she’s misjudging their relationship slightly, but he’s not going to correct her. Maybe it’ll come in handy later.

Martin is about to protest but Tim shushes him. Amanda leads them through the building and Tim is surprised that it isn’t at all how he imagined a pet shelter to be. Martin seems to relax with every step, though, and finds his voice again, chatting away with Amanda amicably. He seems a lot more comfortable here.

It’s a pity, really, this place here suits him better than the institute.

They stop in front of a kennel with two excited black dogs in it. Tim doesn’t know much about dog breeds, but Amanda and Martin are cooing over what pretty greyhounds they are.

“Those are Eddie and Serena,” Amanda explains to them. “Ex-racers,” she says meaningfully and at least Martin seems to understand what she is talking about. Tim keeps a bit of distance.

“Can I?” Martin says and looks hopefully at Amanda who enthusiastically nods.

“Of course!” She opens the door to the kennel and the second it is open one of the dogs slips out and jumps up at Martin in excitement.

“Down, girl!” Amanda says frantically, but Martin only laughs as Serena licks at his face.

“It’s fine,” he says and gently pushes her down. “There is a good girl,” he coos and scratches her behind the ears, which she rewards with a wagging tail that shakes her entire body. Tim watches them and only notices the smile he has on his own face when something sniffs at his knees and startles him.

While Amanda and Martin are busy with Serena, the other dog has slipped out. Tim kneels down, tentatively petting the dog’s side. “Hello there, you must be Eddie,” he says and the dog excitedly noses at his face.

By the time Tim has calmed him down enough to look over to Martin again, Martin has stopped petting Serena and looks at him instead with an odd look in his eyes. It just hangs there for a moment until Amanda claps her hands again.

“Right, you two want to take a walk with them? They’ve got so much energy and Oliver wasn’t feeling so well today, so they only got a short round. And it’s such nice weather.” While she talks, Martin nods along energetically.

“Are we allowed to do that?” Tim asks, sceptically. While he would love nothing more than to do that, if they get arrested for dog-napping or endangering the dogs, that might defeat the purpose of getting out of the institute for a day.

Amanda just gives him a look that tells him, technically they are not. “Martin here has training and worked as a volunteer for years, it’s fine,” she waves him off and Martin looks both pleased and slightly uncomfortable at her praise. “Just don’t be too long. My shift ends at 4.”

“Shall we then?” Tim asks Martin and instead of giving him an answer Martin turns to the dog at his feet.

“What do you think?” he asks Serena, who starts to enthusiastically wag her tail again.

“Guess that’s a yes.”

That’s how they end up with two easily excitable dogs on leads in Battersea Park. There’s an area where they can run free and Martin got them a ball from the shop to throw. Amanda insisted they could have one for free, but Martin counter-insisted that they really shouldn’t, as they didn’t pay the entrance fee, and those are nice dogs. Tim didn’t argue and ended up paying, despite Martin’s protest. It seemed to make Amanda even more fond of him. So there was that.

The dogs seem to definitely love their new toy immensely and they spent a good hour just entertaining them with it. The exertion makes Tim’s muscles ache in a pleasant way and reminds him that he hasn’t been as active as he used to be before, well, before everything went to shit.

It’s doing Martin some good too, he can tell. It’s been some time since Martin has looked that content and it’s good to see that the world hasn’t stopped entirely. They do get exhausted in the end faster then Serena and Eddie and decide to just take a normal walk along the river and through the park for a bit.

They’re somewhere near a dog statue Martin insisted to see, when Tim spots the ice cream seller. Martin is just telling him that at one point the statue caused a riot. Or the statue before it did. Tim’s a bit vague on that as he gets distracted by watching Eddie sniff around while Martin rambles history at him. And then he is distracted because there is an ice cream seller nearby. He elbows Martin in the side.

“Ice cream?” he asks with a smile and Martin blinks at him for a second, and then nods slowly smiling. “It’s what we wanted in the first place right?”

“Yes,” Martin says and Tim gets an idea.

“Race you there?”

“What? Tim wait!” But Tim has already taken off, Eddie excitedly bounding behind him. Serena doesn’t seem to want to be left behind and drags Martin along with her. They reach the small ice cream stand out of breath.

“That wasn’t fair,” Martin gets out between gulping in air, but he’s grinning at Tim.

“So what do you want?”

The grin falters for a moment and Tim becomes aware that Martin is slipping a mask on again. He can’t say he cares for it much.

“Uhh, vanilla? Just one scoop is enough.”

“One scoop of vanilla? Really? Come on, I’m paying. Go wild.”

“No, it’s fine. Just vanilla.”

“Martin, come on.”

“Two then?” Martin says.

“There are-,” Tim glances at the ice cream sortiment on sale, “sixteen different flavours, and you just want vanilla?”

“I like vanilla,” Martin says defensively.

“Yeah, of course you do,” Tim says flatly in return.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Nothing. But vanilla, honestly?” He doesn’t quite buy it. Sure there are people who like vanilla and Martin could very well be one of them, but Tim has also seen him pick out the best pralines from a box Rosie brought in once. Only when Martin thought no one else was noticing of course. But someone who’s picky about their pralines, doesn’t just go for plain old vanilla.

Martin crosses his arms, tries to at least, as the lead is getting in the way. “It’s my day off, so you said. My decisions.”

“Your decisions are shit.”

“So what? They’re mine. And yours aren’t exactly better,” Martin adds sulkily.

Tim exhales slowly and nods. “Yeah okay, fine.” He turns to the ice cream seller. “One with a scoop of pistachio and cappuccino and Just two scoops of vanilla...but throw all the sprinkles and wine gummies on it, you have.”

“Tim,” Martin protests.

Tim ignores him in favour of placing his own order and paying. He hands Martin his scone in silence, trying his best not to get the leads tangled.

They make their way over to a park bench to eat their ice cream in the quiet. A pointed silence hanging between them.

“Why do you keep pushing?” Martin finally breaks the silence.

“‘Cause you never do,” Tim answers immediately, throwing Martin off-guard for a second.

“Excuse- excuse me?”

Tim takes another lick from his scone and looks at Martin. “You never do, you never push. You never allow yourself to have nice things either.” Martin doesn’t say anything for a moment, just slurps down a gummy worm.

“Vanilla is nice,” he insists.

Tim snorts. Martin is good at that too, the evading the actual topic.

“Honestly though, don’t you ever want something really nice? Something for yourself? Something that’s more than you think you are allowed to have.” And that’s the crux of it, isn’t it? Because Martin doesn’t allow himself things, doesn’t think he should go after what he wants until he’s pushed to the limits, and Tim is so tired of seeing him run himself ragged on doing what he thinks he has to do instead of doing something he wants to do just once.

“Like what?” There is a bit of bite back in Martin’s voice.

Tim shrugs. “I don’t know, whatever you want.”

“I wanted vanilla,” Martin says stubbornly and Tim rolls his eyes.

“So the sprinkles and gummy worms are bad then?”

“You keep doing that too, you know? You just- you just don’t listen? And then steamroll people.”

“I listen, you just never say what you really mean,” Tim bites back. “Except once.” He hates himself a second later, because the last thing he wants to do is remind Martin and himself of the weird tunnels that this Michael creature trapped them in.

“It’s not like you ever ask! You just dragged me out of work and for ice cream and- and-”

“Got you to go to an animal shelter and pet a dog? Yeah sounds so much worse than being stuck in a dark room filing old statements and having a mental breakdown.”

“That’s not the point!” Martin grumbles and takes another bite from his ice cream.

“No it isn’t,” Tim says. “The point is you can’t go on like that, or you crack.” He leans back and squints against the sun peeking through the trees, while Martin next to him presses his lips together. “And I can’t go on like that either,” he comes quietly to a realization. They are all at various stages of cracking and it’s getting them nowhere.

“Hey, Martin,” he says a bit louder.

“Yes, Tim?”

“What do you want to do with the rest of the day? Honest answer.”

Martin sighs and when Tim looks at him again he’s biting his lip as if in thought.

“I don’t know,” he says slowly.

“Martin-”

“I don’t know,” Martin repeats. “I’m not- Give me a moment okay?”

So Tim does, absentmindedly petting Eddie, who tries his best to get at his ice cream.

“I-” Martin starts hesitantly. “I think I’d like to go somewhere nice? Like properly nice? With good food? One of those places that’s a bit more expensive, but not too expensive. Just nice,” and that does sound like a Martin thing, but it also sounds honest. “And perhaps get something to drink afterwards. Wine, I think? Good wine. Yes,” Martin says and nods along to his own thoughts. “And I’d- I’d like to go with you there,” he finishes, watching their dogs with too much purpose for a moment and avoiding Tim’s eyes.

“What, like a date?” Tim asks.

“Exactly like a date?” Martin answers.

“Huh,” is all Tim manages to reply.

“So?” Martin asks and pulls at the hem of his jumper.

“I thought you have a crush on John,” Tim finally says and watches Martin splutter and turn red.

“I- What? No, I don’t!”

“Sure,” Tim says.

“Tim!”

“Whatever you say.”

Martin looks indignant and leans forward to scratch the dog nosing at his knee behind the ears.

“Well maybe he isn’t the only one I have a crush on,” he says, pointedly not looking at Tim.

“Huh?” Tim goes for the second time in the span of a minute. Let’s that sink in for a second or two, in which time Eddie does manage to lick at his ice cream, before finally answering. “Okay then.”

“Okay- okay then?” Martin’s voice pitches a bit higher, incredulousness seeping into it.

“So do you like Hungarian? There is a nice new place a friend told me about.”

Martin eyes him dubiously. “Is that a yes?”

Tim slowly smiles at him. “Yes, Martin, that’s a yes.”

“Oh,” Martin says and freezes in the process of still petting the dog at his feet. The dog seems to not like the interruption and nudges his hand. Martin automatically returns to petting Serena. “That’s good?” he says cautiously and Tim snorts.

“It is,” he says and feels a pang of warmth in his chest that tells him that, yes, it is indeed. It comes as a mild surprise.

A smile spreads over Martin’s face, bright and joyful and Tim doesn’t think he’s ever seen Martin truly smile before. It’s infectious and extremely pretty. It makes the corners of his own lips twitch up too.

Martin’s alarm goes off just then and it startles the dogs for a bit. “I guess we should head back,” he says sheepishly and Tim nods. He’s the first of them to get up, as Martin fumbles with his phone to turn off the alarm, and holds his hand out.

“Come on then,” he says and Martin looks at his hand for a second. Then he reaches out and takes it, pulling himself up. He doesn’t let go and Tim smiles at him, tugging him into the direction of the animal shelter.

Martin throws him glances now and again and Tim fights with the urge to laugh. It’s a bit ridiculous really. Still a soft, joyful laugh escapes his lips. It’s not unwelcome but he’s unused to it these days. Has been for far too long. It’s not like things are getting better, but at least he can steal a moment like this for himself.

“I do like Hungarian,” Martin says and when Tim looks over Martin sneaks him another glance and bites his lower lip. And then he leans over quickly, pressing a kiss to Tim’s lips. It’s short and sweet and Martin blushes afterwards. Tim thinks he could get used to this.

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> Some notes from this fic and outtakes from my side:  
> \- Tim's friend is the Mountain Man Georgie went on a date with  
> \- Oliver is Oliver from the crystal shop  
> \- "By the time Tim has calmed him down enough to look over to Martin again, Martin has stopped petting Serena and looks at him instead with an odd look in his eyes." Me at this part: TIM THAT IS BECAUSE MARTIN HAS JSUT REALISED HOW CUTE HE FINDS YOU PETTING A DOG AND THAT HE STILL HAS A CRUSH ON YOU; YOU USELESS LUMP  
> \- Eddie&Serena do exist, but are at a different Battersea location and not in London. This is from their profile: Eddie loves treats and is a little thief & Serena is too affectionate and jumps, likes cuddles  
> \- this was supposed to be 1000 words


End file.
